News

• Banking malware monitors victims by hijacking webcams and microphones, researchers say

  A new variant of SpyEye malware allows cybercriminals to monitor potential bank fraud victims by hijacking their webcams and microphones, according to security researchers from antivirus vendor Kaspersky Lab.

• Police-themed ransomware starts targeting US and Canadian users

  A ransomware application that locks computers and asks their owners to pay fines for allegedly violating several laws through their online activity is targeting U.S. and Canadian users, malware experts from security firm Trend Micro said on Wednesday.

• Financial malware tricks users with claims of free credit card fraud insurance

  A piece of financial malware called Tatanga attempts to trick online banking users into authorizing rogue money transfers from their accounts as part of the activation procedure for a free credit-card fraud insurance service purportedly provided by their banks, security researchers from Trusteer said Tuesday.Tatanga is an online banking Trojan horse that was first discovered in May 2011. It is able to inject rogue Web pages into browsing sessions and affects nine different browsers, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari.The malware is known to use social engineering techniques against victims in order to bypass security measures enforced by banks, like one-time passwords (OTPs) or transaction authorization numbers (TANs).A new Tatanga configuration detected recently by Trusteer displays a rogue message inside the browser when the victim authenticates on their bank's website, claiming that their bank is offering free credit-card fraud insurance to all customers.The message claims that the new service is provided in partnership with Visa and MasterCard and covers losses that might result from fraudulent online transactions performed with the victim's credit or debit card. The malware grabs the user's real account balance, rounds it up, and presents the result as the allegedly insured sum.The rogue message includes a bank account number that's supposed to be the victim's new insurance account opened by the bank. However, in reality, this account belongs to a money mule -- an individual paid to receive money from fraudulent activity on behalf of cybercriminals -- said Ayelet Heyman, a security researcher at Trusteer, in a blog post Tuesday.The user is told that to activate the service they need to authorize a transaction from their bank account to their new insurance account. In order to do this, they need to input the transaction authorization code sent by their bank to their mobile phone number.This code allows the malware to finalize the rogue transfer in the background and send the victim's money to the money mule. "In all likelihood, the victim does not expect any funds will be transferred out of their account," Heyman said.The maximum sum that is transferred by the malware in a single transaction is €5,000 or about US$6,500. "We can assume that fraudsters have identified this amount (5,000 Euros) as the upper threshold that triggers the bank to address the transaction as high risk," Heyman said via email.The rogue message displayed by the Tatanga configuration analyzed by Trusteer is written in Spanish, which suggests that it targets users in Spain or other Spanish-speaking countries. The company hasn't seen a version of this attack in a different language yet, but the malware is known to have targeted users in other European countries and the U.S. in the past, Heyman said via email.The Trusteer researcher advises users to call their banks over the phone and check the validity of sudden announcements or requests that appear on banking websites. If an online banking website suddenly starts asking users for sensitive information like card security codes or PIN numbers, it's most likely because of a malware infection, he said via email.Users should also install the security software recommended or supplied by their financial institution and should use some type of browser-based security solution that prevents financial fraud, Heyman said.

• Twitter spam campaign infects users with fake antivirus programs

  A large spam campaign observed on Twitter during the last couple of days directed users to malicious websites that exploited vulnerabilities in browser plug-ins to infect their computers with rogue antivirus programs, according to security researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab.

• Ice IX malware tricks Facebook users into exposing credit card details, says Trusteer

  A new configuration of the Ice IX malware attempts to trick its victims into exposing their credit card details when they try to access their Facebook accounts, according to security firm Trusteer.

• Facebook scammers host Trojan horse extensions on the Chrome Web Store

  Cybercriminals are uploading malicious Chrome browser extensions to the official Chrome Web Store and use them to hijack Facebook accounts, according to security researchers from Kaspersky Lab.

• MP warns about scammers

  Scammers are keeping pace with technology and using the internet and mobile phones in new ways to deceive innocent people, the South Australian opposition says.

• Aussies conned out of $85 million: ACCC

  The number of scams reported to Australia's consumer watchdog almost doubled last year, with financial losses from the rorts totalling more than $85 million.

• FTC reaches $359 million settlement over 'free' trial offers

  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reached a suspended US$359 million settlement with a Canadian businessman and his companies for charging customers for supposedly free trial offers.

• Adscend denies Facebook, AG allegations

  Adscend Media, the defendant in lawsuits filed this week by Facebook and the Washington attorney general, on Friday denied the allegations in the complaints and shifted blame to its affiliates.

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  Facebook scammers redirect victims through Amazon's cloud

  Facebook scammers have started redirecting victims through Amazon's cloud in order to bypass malicious URL filters, according to security researchers from antivirus vendor F-Secure.

• Facebook, Washington state sue alleged ad scammer

  Washington's attorney general announced two new lawsuits against Adscend Media, a company that allegedly has been earning US$20 million a year using a Facebook scam.

• JB Hi-Fi warns customers about fake voucher giveaway

  A Bahamas-based travel website called ‘myholidayvouchers.info’ is understood to be behind a Facebook scam that targeted Australians with the offer of a $200 JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH) gift voucher.

• UK police arrest six in student loan phishing scam

  U.K. police arrested six people on Thursday for allegedly running a phishing scam that stole an estimated £1.6 million (US$2.6 million) from victims who had taken out student loans.

• ACCC dialling in new contact centre system

  The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is to deploy a new contact centre solution to help the agency cope with an expected large increase in calls prompted in part by the launch of the carbon tax mid next year.